Everything Counts

*The title of this post is taken from the Depeche Mode song of the same name*

And yes, it’s about that time we come back to those pesky calories.

As the adage goes “Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em!”

When it comes to looking into your food plan to see what’s working and what isn’t, there are still so many people who believe “healthy” food is synonymous with “low calorie” food.

It’s not.

I promise.

Or that eating healthy food will automatically create a condition that makes you lose weight.

It can, but often it won’t.

Take for example an avocado. By all accounts, avocado has so much going for it:

High fiber

High in monounsaturated fats

Low sugar

High in Vitamin C and Vitamin B-6

And depending on what size you get, an avocado can have anywhere from 200-350 calories. On the high end, that is almost equivalent to a meal’s worth of calories for some women trying to lose weight.

So do I want you to stop eating avocado? Definitely not. Just be aware of how a little can actually be a lot.

What about yogurt?

I’m a big fan of yogurt. Over the years, I’ve become more a fan of Icelandic yogurt over Greek but I really like both (assuming you can tolerate lactose.)

However, once you venture away from most of the standard yogurt brands you can find yourself in some colorful territory. Take for example: Noosa.

Noosa is a brand of Australian yogurt that has been making waves for how good it tastes. And there’s good reason. Noosa is LOADED with sugar. A 4 oz. serving has 50% more sugar in it than a Snickers bar. And a container of Noosa is 8 oz. so you’re tackling nearly 300 calories of a complete sugar-bomb.

My safe advice on yogurt: Stick with something that has no more than 15g of carbs and nearly the same in grams of protein per serving. If you stick with Greek or Icelandic varieties, you will find many that fit this bill.

The list can go on.

Remember that almost every single thing you can consume has a calorie attached to it. Even things you may not want to give credence to: many condiments, vegetables (although you would be hard pressed to over-consume them), anything that you add to your coffee or tea (save for the no-calorie sweeteners), and alcohol (sorry, it’s true.)

And you could argue over the health benefits of things like honey vs agave or coconut oil vs olive oil, etc. Fact of the matter is, they all have calories and if you’re not measuring then you’re guessing. And if you’re guessing, you’re probably incorrect.

So before you start comparing healthy against non-healthy, remember that “Everything Counts” except basically water and unsweetened coffee/tea.

Last but not least, keep in mind that no amount of “healthy eating” or “clean eating” will work in a sustainable manner if you hate it. So before you embark on the ultra-greens smoothie and your superfood recipes, make sure you actually enjoy what you’re eating. If you can make that solution work for you, then eating in a deficit to create weight loss won’t be near as unbearable.